The Last Keepers of the Balance
by targaryenemperor
Summary: Soon after the Destroyer's death, the Four Horsemen were reunited on the shattered Earth. With the forces of Hell running rampant across the realm and with a corrupted Council as enemies, the last remaining keepers of the Balance have to fight the greatest war of their existence. Will they manage to restore the rule of law across Creation? Rated T for violence. I await reviews :)
1. The Army of Balance

When Uriel heard the Red Horseman utter the words: "No, not alone...", she knew what that meant and even so, she couldn't shrug off the anger and the fear she felt. Those words meant that the other three were on their way, and it was true. A blinding light encased the spire War fought and killed the Destroyer and three figures appeared near her. Uriel looked at them in terror as they slowly revealed themselves. One was a woman, with purple hair, yellow eyes and pale skin, another had black hair and wore a helmet and the last one was the most familiar to the leader of the Hellguard: Death. They were the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Charred Council's most powerful enforcers and the last remaining Nephilim. Each of them was immensely powerful and had unique abilities that put them far above the other servants of the Council. Before she could say anything, Uriel noticed Death approaching her:

"Greetings, Uriel. So, the Hellguard stands tall! That's good news, amidst all this misery."

"Horseman... I..."

"There is no need for words, Uriel."

The Pale Rider turned his masked face towards the rest of the remaining Hellguard members:

"You've done your part in this and for that, I am grateful. But now, as the Seventh Seal was broken, we'll take over. You are free to return to the White City and the other realms of the Light."

Uriel couldn't believe her ears:

"What? But... we are exiled! How can we return to the White City knowing what we've done?"

A voice was heard from amidst the clouds:

"You did nothing, my dear. We did everything. Me and Abaddon."

A tall Angel, wearing a long, blue cloak descended to the spire.

"Azrael... What are you doing here, traitor? If you wish to help your friend, the Destroyer, see that you are now too late!"

War approached Uriel, who was pointing towards the corpse of Abaddon:

"No, Uriel... Azrael was coerced into this conspiracy by Abaddon and while his fault is no lesser than Abaddon's, he partially redeemed himself by helping me take down the Destroyer. You are right to be angry but right now, we need to keep our heads clear."

"Exactly. Uriel, I know what I've done and I deserve all your hatred and even more, but right now, the Destroyer's death means nothing if we don't find a way to cleanse the Earth of Demons."

"And how do you propose we do this?"

"First, we need to reconvene elsewhere, somewhere where we can plan and talk outside of the Charred Council's reach."

"Why?"

War and Death exchanged looks to one another and the Pale Rider spoke:

"Because the Council is corrupted. They knew what Abaddon did and used War as an assassin in order to take him down. They knew War would never agree to their plan and they decided to make everyone believe he provoked the Apocalypse."

Fury couldn't believe it:

"What? How do you know of this, brother?"

Azrael coughed:

"You will find all the answers you seek, Fury. But now, we have to hurry. I will take all of you, like I said, to a place outside the Council's reach."

One of the Hellsguard Angels spat:

"Why should we trust this criminal and traitor? For all we know, he may be in league with the Prince of Lies himself, like his friend, the Destroyer, was!"

Some of the other Angels agreed with him and an argument started before Uriel intervened:

"Enough! I understand your fears, brothers and sisters. But right now, we are the only force capable of mending the wound caused by the traitors to Creation. Remember our oath, when we became Hellguard. We swore to protect the Light and cleanse the evil from Creation. If that means I have to work with Azrael and the Horsemen, I will happily do it! But after all this pain and tragedy, after one hundred years of never ending war, I understand if you want to go home. All of you who want to return to the White City, do it. But if there is any within your ranks that wishes to continue our fight, join me!"

The Angels stopped arguing and the one who spoke earlier approached Uriel:

"Yes... I want to go home. Sorry, Uriel, but my blood craves the light, craves the peace of our realm. Understand this..."

Some of the other angels agreed with him. Uriel closed her eyes and nodded, dissapointed.

"Do as you wish, Hael!"

Hael approached Death:

"How do we return home?"

"There is a portal that links Earth to Lostlight. It was the portal I used to come here and recover the Rod of Arafel. If you go through it, you will arive at the Crystal Spire. From there, use the Tree of Life to go to the White City."

"Hear that, brothers? We can go home! I'm sorry, Uriel..."

"Go home, Hael."

Hael took out a map and had Death mark the location of the portal. More than half of the Hellguard present left with him, leaving Uriel with little over twenty warriors.

"We are not like Hael, mistress. We fight with you, until the end!"

"Thank you, my loyal friends. Now, Azrael, what is our next step?"

"I will try to teleport all of us to Eden, even though I believe it's almost impossible. After I helped War reach the Tree of Knowlege, the Serpent Hole closed behind us, so..."

"Don't fret, Angel of Death..."

Death approached Azrael and, after taking out a small rock from his pocket, he handed it to the Angel:

"What's this, Death?"

"A rock from Eden. I took it after our battle with the Nephilim eons ago. This piece of stone is the only part of Eden existing outside that realm. If you concetrate enough on it, you can teleport us there."

"Incredible... I should try."

"Know that it will take some time and you should not be disturbed. Uriel, have your Hellguard protect Azrael, as he will be unable to defend himself if Demons attack during the ritual!"

"Yes, Horseman. Did you hear it? At your post!"

"Yes, milady!"

The Hellguard encircled Azrael.

"In the meantime, Strife..."

The Rider of the White Horse, silent until now, approached:

"Yes, brother?"

"I recovered your pistol from the Forge Lands. Take it, you'll need it!"

"Why, Death... I didn't expect this from you! Thank you, kind sir!"

"Here. Your second pistol. The Maker Ulthane gave it to me."

"Oh, happy days! I can't even put it into words how happy I am to have such devoted siblings by my side!"

Fury sighed:

"Yes, we... know about your gratitude. By the way, how did you lose your weapons to the Makers?"

"Umm... long story!"

"Well, tell us. We have time before Azrael completes his teleportation ritual."

"Ah... Do you remember when the Council sent me to the okarim realm? The one that was enslaved by Demons?"

"Yes, we know."

"Well... In my efforts to liberate it... I kind of destroyed the Succor of the Ages and..."

"You did what?"

Death's face under the mask would become even more livid than it normally was. The Succor of the Ages was a Maker artifact that was gifted to the okarim ages ago. It was the source of their incredible healing power.

"You do realise that without the Succor, the okarim will be exterminated?"

"No, no... Well, I do but it's not a problem because the Maker Ragnol, who inhabited the okarim world, repaired it but... the price he asked for was pretty high."

"Your pistols..."

"Yes. And before you so kindly gave them back to me, look at what I had to use!"

Strife showed the small green gauntlet he wore on his right arm, which had three holes in it. Death laughed:

"The Tempest Gauntlet. This was in the possession of the Soul Render of Korgas. How did you take it from him?"

"Ugh... He gave it to me but... I had to kill a sludger for him..."

The three other Horsemen started to histerically laugh at the expense of their brother. The sludger was a type of gigantic worm that squatted beneath the soil of the Demon realm Korgas, ruled by the powerful entity known as the Soul Render. The sludger was considered to be the foulest creature in Creation, having all kinds of noxious substances covering its giant body and its stench was said to be able to be felt from one hundred miles distance.

"Why are you laughing about? It's not like I'm the only one who does business with Demons. Death, you did have to kill that Leviathan for Vulgrim, isn't it?"

"Yes, but not a sludger!"

Strife was visibly angry but he sighed and put his pistols in the holster. Soon, the voice of Azrael boomed across the top of the spire.

"To me, friends. We shall teleport immediately!"

The Four Horsemen, Uriel, the Hellguard and the corpse of Abaddon soon were encased in a blue light and dissapeared from the battlefield.


	2. Rewriting the Fate

None of the Hellguard, except Abaddon, knew where Eden was hidden, much less to see it with their own eyes. Only a select group of angels called the Faneguard, tasked with protecting the garden had constant contact with it. The perfect realm, a place of endless peace and immense tranquility that was the envy of the entire Creation, a place brought to ruin by the Nephilim during their crusade. The angels brought by Azrael looked in wonder at Eden with some of them even crying, knowing where they were. Uriel stood there, amazed too but focused on the task at hand. The garden itself was locked with powerful spells but it was easy to taste Eden's glory from the small floating island the group were standing on. Death approached Azrael who, even though he had seen Eden countless times, was looking in awe too:

"Azrael, can you summon another person here?"

"Who?"

"The Crowfather. He is dead but his soul was released after I killed the Wailing Host in the City of the Dead. We need his insight and as I am here, I will convince him to help us."

"Normally, I would oppose this, as dead souls should be channeled into the Well, not wander about but... you are right."

Azrael drew a circle on the ground with blue lightning and after murmuring an incantation, touched the circle with his right hand. A few moments later, a tiny, bald man with a long, white beard arrived. Dust, Death's faithful companion flew on the man's shoulder.

"Ah... Eden... I expected you will be grateful for the fact that I helped you, Death, but to bring me to see Eden with my own eyes... That's far more than I was expecting of you!"

"I didn't summon you here for you to sightsee. I'm gathering allies."

"I see... What for?"

"You shall see."

Strife, Fury and War were watching the exchange between the Crowfather and Death. Strife said:

"Look at those two, chatting like two buddies. Here is our brother, with his crows and madmen in company. I always wondered why he bows to that old fart."

"Because he needs allies, fool. And that old fart is one of the most knowledgeable being in Creation. But how can you understand, as you were so stupid as to destroy the Succor of the Ages?"

"Sister, you wound me! But at least, I did something, saved a realm. Where were you? War killed the Destroyer and countless other demons, Death wandered through time and space in other realms and saved us from Corruption but you? I didn't hear you doing something!"

"I was at Brilliance Keep, negociating a peace between two angelic factions at war."

"Ah, who said that the Heaven doesn't have its share of fools. So while War here and Death there fought for the Balance, you took a little vacation at Brilliance Keep, basking into the Light without a care in the world!"

"It's not like this and you know it!"

War left his siblings, already tired of their argument and approached Uriel:

"Uriel..."

"Yes, Horseman?"

"How do you feel?"

"That's not important. Nothing is important right now, but to end this miserable war."

"It is important. You suffered tremendously for one hundred years, just as I have... And I feel only pain and hatred. Don't let your pain and your hatred consume you, Uriel."

The Angel closed her eyes. She wanted to cry but she couldn't allow herself to be perceived as weak by the remaining Hellguards.

"I don't need your compassion, Horseman. Just a resolution to this atrocity!"

"You shall have it, Uriel. I swear to you!"

In the meantime, Death and the Crowfather approached the other Horsemen and Angels:

"Now, let's talk. Azrael, tell us what happened with the other six Seals."

"They were reforged by Ulthane. They are currently hidden away."

"Good. Make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands. Now, the way I see it, we are currently the last fighters for the Balance remaining in Creation. We have to start fighting back!"

One of the Angels shouted:

"And who put you in charge? You may be the leader of the Horsemen but I don't take orders from one who slew countless Angels!"

"And I shall add another one to those... countless Angels if you don't shut up! If you aren't willing to fight alongside us, go home... if you can find your way, that is!"

Uriel retorted:

"Death, I won't tolerate threats. And you, Yasiel, you will take orders from whoever it is necessary, understand?"

"Yes, milady. Apologies!"

"Good! Continue, Horseman!"

"Actually, I shall let the Crowfather take it from here. He has something very interesting to say."

Azrael looked at the Crowfather, trying to sense his power. He was shocked. The small, old man was incredibly powerful and ancient beyond any calculations. A good ally to have at their side, the Angel thought.

"Well, as you probably suspected, there is no way the Earth can be restored. It is wrecked beyond repair. What can we do now is trying to resettle them here, to Eden, as was the Creator's original intent."

All of the others gasped, except Death and Azrael. Fury said:

"It's impossible. The garden was corrupted by the invasion of the Nephilim. Right at this moment, the foulness of our brothers' rotting corpses still rends the garden. We can't settle anyone there. And besides, the humans are extinct."

Death laughed:

"Well... That's where you are mistaken, sister."

The Pale Rider produced a large blue crystal medallion attached to a golden chain and put it on his neck.

"The souls of mankind..."

Azrael was amazed:

"I sensed something... disturbing the Well of Souls. So it was you! You took out the humans' souls from the Well!"

"Indeed. This amulet holds now the essence of each and every human being that lived at the time the End War started."

"Incredible. By returning the souls to Creation, we may have a chance! But... their bodies... Some rotted, others were corrupted and transformed into mindless husks that are doing the Demons' bidding. How can we bring them back to life if they have no bodies?"

The Crowfather gently stroked his beard and spoke:

"We can try to remake their bodies. Don't forget that long time ago, the Nephilim themselves were made from the dust of angels and demons. So it is possible to undertake such a task."

Strife laughed:

"Oh, so let's just contact Lilith and say to her: Pleeeasee, Mommy, can you create vessels for Mankind's souls, pleaseee?"

Death put his palm on his face and sighed while some of Uriel's angels snickered. The Crowfather continued:

"Or... We can try to do another ritual, one lost in time, but so vivid to me. And, I suspect, to you, Death."

The Horseman nodded. Fury asked:

"What is that ritual?"

"It is called the Rewriting."

Azrael widely opened his eyes:

"I know this name. It is something spoken only in whispers, by the foulest Demonic mouths."

Death frowned, behind his mask:

"Well, I suppose you shouldn't be picky now, Azrael. You should be thankful you live. Besides, you expressed your desire to atone for your sins. Here is your chance."

"And I will help you, as promised, but the Rewriting..."

Strife said:

"Could somebody explain to us what is this Rewriting?"

Death replied to his brother:

"I shall explain, though I don't think you would understand, Strife, as your brain is not sufficiently well-developed to grasp such concepts. For you, I will try to simplifiy my explanation."

Strife grunted while Fury laughed, but quickly stopped as Death was prepared to begin his explanation:

"Consider a human and everything a human is made of, not just physically but spiritually. A human has organs, muscles, skin, veins, blood and bones but also has a personality, hopes, dreams, fears, aspirations, love. Now, imagine that everything is written in a book, one for each human, a book that tells exactly that person's life story. Like a journal of sorts. Now, death is part of life, its ending actually, and the journal stops, effectively marking that human's demise. The Rewriting ritual... erases this ending. Simply, it removes death from that person's history."

Azrael was shocked:

"This is something... incredible... I can't really find my words to describe it... Did something like this ever exist?"

"It did, but the ritual and its requirements were lost. Only myself and the Crowfather know them. And I have to say it, its tremendously difficult to perform for even one person. But in the amulet, lies seven billion souls!"

"Seven billion... by the Creator!"

The Crowfather coughed:

"The Rewriting eliminates the moment of death, turning it into a dream of sorts. The man who died would have no recollection of his own death, just... a nightmare that has passed. Think about it like this. You are fighting an enemy and you receive a fatal blow. You die. The rewriting simply make that blow a dream. You will awaken and believe you were asleep and you had a nightmare. That's the Rewriting."

Uriel, who stood silently until now, spoke:

"If that ritual will remake the Third Kingdom, we should get to work! What do we need?"

The Crowfather smiled:

"Your perseverance and diligence are laudable but it is not that simple. Firstly, we need the essence of the ones we try to rewrite. That item, we cross off our list, as it was obtained by Death. Secondly, we need an aspect of purity and an aspect of wickedness."

"What are those?"

"Two extremes. The universal good and the most wicked evil, as both are parts of the souls of humankind. They have the propensity for both good and evil."

"What, we need an Angel and a Demon?"

"Yes, but not just any kind of Angel or Demon. We would need the purest of Angels and the foulest of Demons."

Strife smirked, underneath his helmet:

"Well, let's get back to Earth. Shouldn't be too hard to find the worst Demon Hell crapped upon that realm."

"It's not that simple, as I said. True, every Demon on Earth is evil, but we need to find the supreme evil!"

"Oh... so you mean!"

"Yes, their lord!"

A commotion started within the Angels' ranks. They would have to go against the Prince of Darkness himself.

"To capture Lucifer himself... Are you sure, Crowfather?"

"Like I said, Strife, it's not that simple!"

One Angel approached the old man:

"Simple? Are you mad, ghost? How can it be simple to capture the Prince of Lies?"

"It would have been very simple to capture Lucifer... But he is not Prince anymore. He does not exist anymore."

"What?"

"Lucifer is dead, overthrown by the new Prince of Darkness."

War trembled. _Could he...?_

"Who is the new leader of Hell?"

"You may know him as the Red Wanderer or the Red Prince... But his name is..."

War said:

"Samael!"

Death laughed:

"So, Samael really did it. When did it happen?"

"Shortly after War entered the Black Throne."

Fury was overwhelmed:

"We need to capture Samael?"

"Or to convince him to take part in the ritual."

"Yes... So, how do we capture him?"

"I wouldn't start with Samael, you know? It's easy to find the absolute evil. But to find the absolute good? That's nigh impossible!"

"Ugh... We'll figure it out somehow. Now, the question is, what are we going to do with HIM?"

Azrael pointed towards Abaddon's corpse, who laid on the ground. Death said:

"Seal it somewhere. We'll need it later in the ritual."

"What?"

"The ritual also calls for an aspect of death, that means a corpse whose death meant a lot for many, whose demise sent ripples across Creation."

"Well, the irony... He ruined Humanity and now, he will help restoring it, even unwittingly."

"Yes. Now, Uriel, I want you and the Hellguard to return to Earth. Fight the forces of Hell!"

"With only this squad? We will perish, Horseman!"

Azrael spoke:

"Do not fret, Uriel. I shall send reinforcements through the portal between Lostlight and Earth. I will contact Nathaniel, who now holds the Crystal Spire, right now. He was a Hellguard, he knows about your fight."

"Good, but how can we return to Earth?"

"I shall reopen the Serpent Hole between Eden and Earth, but it will close after you'll leave it on the other side."

"So we can't return here."

"No."

"Do it, Azrael. It is our duty. And if we fall... Let me say this to each and every one of you: please, fight for the Balance."

"We shall."

As Azrael opened the Serpent Hole for the Hellguard, the Horsemen converged around the Crowfather, who gave each of them tasks.

"War, you should remain hidden for now. The Council will surely try to destroy you. Until we find a way for you to become undetected by them, you should stay in my former realm, the Veil."

"A fortress of ice..."

"Yes, but it's far better than being chained by the Council, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"Strife, you go to the Forge Lands and recruit as many Makers as you can. We will need them. Have them go through the Tree of Life to my realm."

"Why me? It's Death who is their best friend!"

"I need Death to do something else. Besides, according to your eldest brother, you had your own adventures with the Makers, so you will fit!"

"Fine..."

"Fury, you will go to Shadow's Edge. If Lilith is there... Kill her!"

Death was a bit disappointed that he isn't the one tasked to do it, but he trusted Fury with all his heart.

"How would that help us? She is Samael's paramour."

"She fell from Samael's grace the moment she took the Destroyer as her consort. In fact, he would be grateful that we eliminated her. He even may help us... If she is not in Shadow's Edge, try to find her location."

"To kill her, I would slaughter anyone standing in my way, the whole Hell itself!"

"Good."

Strife was angry:

"Why does Fury get to do the fun part?"

"Because she actually thinks, unlike you!"

"You bloody old bastard!"

"Shut up, Strife! What about me, Crowfather?"

"You will find the paramour of goodness we need and bring him here."

"And where should I find this... perfect being?"

"I don't know, but here in this garden, there is something that might help us!"

"I see. So, I should go to the Tree."

"I'll await you here, with Azrael."

The Hellguard dissappeared within the Serpent Hole. Also, Azrael opened another Hole towards the Veil. War departed Eden, while Strife and Fury went towards their destinations in another two Holes. Only Death, Azrael and the Crowfather remained in Eden.

"I'll go to the Tree now!"


End file.
